Everything is politics : Hidden Messages in a Royal Carolean Portrait

In 1704 Hedvig Eleonora, the dowager queen of Sweden, commissioned a portrait of herself and her great-grandson, Karl Fredrik, the duke of Holstein-Gottorp, four years of age. The portrait by court portraitist David von Krafft is quite formal in style, and alludes to other royal portraits in a number of dynastic symbols and visual conventions although it is unusual in its composition and subject-matter. There are two very similar copies of this painting, one in the collections of the Swedish National Museum, and one in Schloss Eutin in Germany. The Swedish painting has attracted little interest from art historians and has not been exhibited for many years. The aim of this study is to analyse the paiting in its historical, political and dynastic context. What was the purpose of the painting and what message was it to convey? A comprehensive comparision of royal portraits, commissioned in the late 1600:s and early 1700:s, reveals that many have visual conventions and status-enhancing details in common. However, the double-portrait differs from them in some important aspects. The composition of the portrait was most probably carefully considered. Hedwig Eleonora was an experienced art commissioner after 60 years of shaping the dynastic image-building of her son Charles XI and grandson Charles XII. She was also well versed in the visual use of symbolism and dynastic symbols. When the portrait was painted the unmarried king Charles II had been away in war for several years. The question of succession was pressing and the double-portrait can be read as a visual opinion piece on behalf of one of two possible heirs to the throne, the young Karl Fredrik. The young boy was the current duke of of Holstein Gottorp and the dowager queen herself was born a princess of Holstein-Gottorp. The double-portrait testifies to her life-long efforts to forward the cause of the dukedom. Perhaps it is also a testament to her failure. The king fought a long, wrenching war and when he died, another regent was chosen